We recently flew from Ohio to Florida (and back) with our two year old. She had flown once before, but she was only a month old at the time, so it was a totally different experience. Today we want to talk about a few things that you will need to bring with you when you fly with a toddler.
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Entertainment
One of the most important tips we can give is to bring plenty of entertainment for a toddler. Most toddlers are fairly active and it is unrealistic to expect them to sit quietly without multiple things to do. The longer your flight is, the more types of entertainment you will need. We took our daughter’s iPad and several children’s books.
A Special Treat
We had planned to give our toddler pure juice (something that we never do) during take off, but when we went to buy the juice, we came up with an additional idea. We also picked up a Lunchable. She had never had one before and the curiosity kept her quiet as boarding finished and the plane got ready to take off. A special treat can help distract your toddler during parts of the flight that might be scary.
A Car Seat or Harness
Children over two are required to have their own seat with most airlines, but getting them to sit in it can be a challenge. Our toddler has a lot of energy. She rarely stops moving. We did not need a car seat where we were going, so we decided to purchase an airplane travel harness. It was a little on the expensive side, but worth every penny. It made the airplane seat feel like a car seat for our toddler.
Our flights both went wonderfully. We hope that this short guide can help other families as well. We would love to hear from you! What has your experience flying with young children been like? What is something that you can not fly without?
We fly a lot with the kids. My boys are 4 and 5, but they have been flying at least 3-4 times per year their entire lives. That’s what happens when we live in Texas and my family is in Florida! We bring lots of snacks and toys. My oldest gets motion sickness so he can’t do a lot, but my youngest plays on his tablet. We also bring coloring books. I’ve never done a car seat or harness on the plane, but we gate-check the car seats since we need them on the other side.
My sister is flying with two toddlers this summer so I will remind her of the things she needs to take mentioned on this blog entry. Thank you so much for sharing your own experience!
We missed the whole harness phase, so I am glad to hear it worked out for you. When my eldest was of the age for that, I was pregnant with my second, so no flying for us that year. After that, by which point my eldest was three, we got her a car-seat vest (SaferRide), and that was FABULOUS. And I guess we somehow never flew when the other was toddler-age lol.
Every time, I am reading those great tips about things to do with a toddler, I wish I knew about blogging when my kids were little. We find some many great tips in a post like yours that life can be so much easier when doing stuff with our toddlers.
Thanks for the awesome tips I will definitely share to my brother 🙂
These are great tips! We always used to let our daughter choose a gift from the in-flight magazine as a treat – it used to keep her amused choosing it but it was also something new for her to play with during the flight…
This is what I did when we flew the first time with our boy. It only took M&M’s to ease him and take his worry off flying. Usually, our plane trips are rather short so it’s not much trouble.
Definitely taking entertainment for all kinds of things is essential. Although as a child I was a nervous passenger so hard to entertain me. I was always better when I was talking to someone else. Seemed to distract me more.
Oh how I remember those days and miss them very much. When my kids where toddlers, snacks, special toys and activities kept them a little quiet. I couldn’t go anywhere without my carseats and strollers.